Wish
by kitty-deactivated
Summary: Seven little wishes, each unique in their own way. They all want to be picked...those little wishes. But only one may come true if six die out.
1. Chapter 1

Mossfoot was dreaming that she was in a soft meadow. She purred in contentment as she chased after butterflies. It was fun to pretend to be a kit sometimes.

She squealed in excitement and jumped, batting at the colorful creatures. She continued to have fun, running and pouncing, trying to catch a butterfly. Mossfoot dropped to a crouch. Her tail lashed as she waited for the right moment. She wriggled her haunches before leaping. She outstretched her paws, and she grabbed a butterfly in her paws.

"Yes! I got it!" Mossfoot purred. She let go, still purring. She lazily batted at another butterfly, catching its wing.

She was distracted by a grasshopper that was sitting on a leaf. She dropped to a crouch, her eyes bright with excitement. She pounced, trying to catch the grasshopper.

"Oh well." Mossfoot purred.

She got bored and began to look for something else in her dream. She noticed something near her paws, and she leaned down to sniff it.

"Deaaathhhhhh..." It hissed. Mossfoot's eyes widened, and she leapt back.

"W-what?" She asked. The 'thing' was a patch of wilted grass. How could grass hiss?!

Mossfoot turned away. She didn't want her carefree dream to be ruined by some stupid grass.

"Deaaaatthhhhhhh..." Mossfoot let out a yelp and scrambled back, her eyes wide with terror. In front of her was a dead tree. Bird and mouse skeletons lay scattered near its trunk. Wilted flowers covered the rest of the ground.

Everything was whispering it now. "Deaaaaaattthhhh..." The dead plants were saying. They repeated it over and over again. Mossfoot backed away.

"What is going on?" She cried, flattening her ears.

One moment she was in a dream that kits were supposed to have, the next she was in a creepy, horrible nightmare. What had caused this to happen?

Mossfoot tried to run away. As she did so, she crashed into something sturdy. She looked up to see a badger. Its face was twisted and disgusting as it let out an abnormal growl. Mossfoot was paralyzed by fear as the badger raised its paw to hit her.

"Stop." A scratchy voice brought her back to her senses, and Mossfoot whipped around.

"Wh-who're you?" She hissed. Then she quickly turned back to face the frightening badger.

But it was gone!

Her head whipped back forth, first to look at the cat that has just appeared out of nowhere, then at the empty space that used to he where the badger was standing.

"What in the name of StarClan happened?" Mossfoot asked, her eyes wide with fear.

"The others will be arriving shortly." The tom with the scratchy voice said. Mossfoot (after calming down) finally got to take a good look at the strange newcomer. It was a gray furred tom with one green eye and one blue eye. Half of his face was black, and the other was brown.

"Who-" She stopped, staring. "What are you?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

The tom gave her a disapproving look that scared Mossfoot. It was strangely menacing...

Mossfoot jumped when she heard the crunch of paws stepping on dried leaves. She was shocked to see that her bright and lively dream had, quite literally, died. All of the plants were brown and gray. Even the sky was a dull color!

She bit back a growl when she saw who had made the noise. It was her arch nemesis from BirdClan, Sorrelfern. "What are you doing here?"

Sorrelfern narrowed her dull blue eyes. "I was wondering the same thing." Mossfoot noticed that the 'dead' she-cat seemed to fit right in her noghtmare. Sorrelfern had a dark gray pelt with almost gray blue eyes.

It was ironic that Mossfoot was seeing the she-cat that she hated so much in her now dead dream.

"Here they come." The oddly furred tom announced.

"What do you mean, 'here they come'?" Mossfoot hissed. "Are you some StarClan cat? 'Cause you sure don't look like one."

The tom didn't answer.

"Answer me!" Mossfoot unsheathed her claws.

"It's no use." Came Sorrelfern's deadpan voice. "He'll not reveal a word. Not until the 'others' come. I've already tried."

"What do you know?!" Mossfoot growled. "You're just a desperate she-cat trying to-" Before she could finish her sentence, there was another crunch. They turned to look.

Sorrelfern didn't look phased. "What are you two doing here?" She asked.

So she and Mossfoot shared a common enemy. It seemed that, from the way she spoke, she liked the two cats as much as Mossfoot did.

"Redpaw?" Mossfoot asked incredulously. "Lilypaw? How in the world did you get here?"

Redpaw scowled. "Don't ask me!" Redpaw spat. "And don't ask Mouse-Brain. He just stands there sputtering nonsense."

"Maybe if you had just been more patient-!" Lilypaw began to retort.

"Who cares? He wouldn't have done anything! He just stands there doing nothing." Redpaw argued.

Mossfoot sighed, rolling her eyes. "They totally forget about reality when they pointlessly argue." She grumbled to Sorrelfern.

"Yes," The she-cat nodded in agreement.

"Wait," Redpaw stopped, finally coming back to his senses. "what are you guys doing here?"

Mossfoot saw Sorrelfern's eyes flash with annoyance. "We don't know. We're probably going to have to wait until he-" The gray she-cat pointed her tail at the tom. "-decided to start talking."

Mossfoot scented more cats. More? And it smelled like..."Sparrowfire? Antfur and Emberfall?" She was getting so very confused. Was this even a dream anymore? Maybe it was a weird gathering set up by StarClan.

Sorrelfern looked down as Sparrowfire approached Mossfoot. "Sis! Do you think StarClan is giving us a prophecy?" He asked. There was too much optimism in his voice. He too must've gotten a nightmare.

"Stop calling me that." Mossfoot grumbled. She turned to look at Emberfall. "Oh, hello again." She and the orange she-cat had grown to become friends, even though they were in different Clans.

"Well?!" Redpaw huffed. "Now will you finally explain to us-"

"Yes." The tom growled, his voice so husky that it made Mossfoot wince when she heard it again. It made her want to clear her own throat. "I have brought you seven here to dream together."

"We that's just great." Antfur grumbled, giving Emberfall a look. Mossfoot narrowed her eyes. What was with that one? He seemed to have something against her friend...

"You were each chosen for a different reason. You each know that reason. If you do not, you will soon find out." The tom continued.

"You still haven't told us your name." Mossfoot lifted her chin.

The tom ignored her. "You will have one moon. The last one surviving will be allowed to awaken once more. The rest will die," The tom fixed his gaze of Mossfoot, making her step back. "never to return to the waking realm."

"W-what is this?" Emberfall hissed. "You can't decide if we die or not! It's not like you can-"

The tom glowered. "You will not wake up until one moon has passed. That is that. There are no other rules. All you must do is survive. Do whatever it takes to survive."

Mossfoot swallowed. "O-okay," She cleared her throat. "Let's say that what you're saying is true. Then were will we be surviving? Er, what are we defending ourselves from?" She stuttered, trying to put together the right words.

"You are in Wish, the land of hopes and dreams." The tom tilted his head. "I mean, crushed hopes and dreams. One cannot ever make a perfect wish. The most deformed ones go here. This is where you must survive."

"Why?" Lilypaw asked immediately.

"You will figure it out." The tom rumbled. "It starts now."

"Wait!" Mossfoot cried. "What is your name? Are we in StarClan?"

The tom gave her one last look. "StarClan will not be able to help you now. Not while you are in Wish. And as for my name..." He flicked his tail. "I cannot say."

Then he dashed off, quickly disappearing into the fog.

"Fog?" Mossfoot blinked. She hadn't seen it earlier...

Sparrowfire seemed shocked. As did the apprentices and the rest of the cats. Everyone except Sorrelfern was rattled.

"So...what do we do now?" Sorrelfern asked, her eyes cloudy.


	2. Chapter 2

Mossfoot looked around wildly, her heart pounding. "What in the name of StarClan does that mean? Crushed hopes and dreams?" Just the sound of those words made her shudder. "And why us? What has it got to do with us? Are we gonna die? I can't die. How can we-" She cried.

"Sis, calm down!" Sparrowfire rested his tail on her shoulder, and she realized that everyone was staring.

"S-sorry…" She muttered. Mossfoot had a knack for overreacting, it seemed. She glanced at the fog again. "It's just that-"

"We know." Emberfall pressed against Mossfoot comfortingly. She turned to Sorrelfern. "I think that we should all work together now." Lilypaw started to nod slowly.

"Yeah…" The apprentice agreed. "We should!" She gave a little bounce, as though trying to seem optimistic in the life-or-death situation.

"Ha! You agree with everything anyone says." Redpaw sneered.

Emberfall shot a him look that caused the ginger tabby to shut right up.

Sorrelfern walked carelessly forward through the fog, looking thoughtful. "We should probably wait for this fog to clear." She announced.

"You think?" Antfur scoffed. "From what that cat said, we could die here. Of course we should wait. I certainly want to wake up." The tom sniffed.

"You believed the scrawny rogue?" Sparrowfire rolled his eyes. "Seriously, all of you, this has to be some sort of joke. Besides, who cares? Anyone can wake up from a stupid dream."

"Sparrowfire!" Mossfoot rounded on her brother. "Stop taking this so lightly!" Tension crackled in the air above them.

"I'm not taking it lightly, I'm just-"

"Here we go again with your excuses." Mossfoot groaned. "What? We all happened to eat herb-filled prey and now we're dreaming again. Life must seem to be so simple to you." She hissed, her eyes narrowed.

"Stop it!" Emberfall pushed between the two squabbling littermates. "For now let's just go along with it. We don't want to try anything unnecessary." Her words seemed to calm down everyone, and then tension in the air disappeared. "Let's all just work together and stay safe. Then we'll all be happy. And before we know it we'll be awake."

"Sounds great." Antfur spoke up. "Except what do we do with this fog, O Wise One?" He growled.

"Hey, hey!" Now it was Mossfoot's turn to intervene. "Come on, don't start anything. Let's make camp here for now."

Lilypaw and Redpaw stood quietly, both of them looking bored. Redpaw even let loose a yawn. "Can we sleep for now?"

"Can we sleep in a dream?" Lilypaw tilted her head in wonder.

Sparrowfire sighed and curled up in a tight, furry ball. "Wake me when it's morning or whatever." Mossfoot's brother fell asleep, and she watched him curiously.

"I guess we can, Lilypaw." Mossfoot shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Let's stay close. I'll take first watch." She suggested.

"Sounds good." Antfur shrugged. "I guess I'll go after you." He too laid down, ready to doze off.

"Can I take first watch?" Redpaw asked excitedly. He ran around Mossfoot excitedly. "Please? Pleaaase?" The apprentice looked genuinely excited, though Mossfoot suspected that he wanted to use the position as an excuse to tease Lilypaw.

"No." Emberfall stepped forward. "Antfur said-"

"He heard what I said!" Antfur raised his head, eyes cold. "Redpaw isn't a kit. In fact, why don't we let him take first watch?" He stood and stretched his spine. "Stand here and stay alert. Wake us all up if you see, hear, or smell anything dangerous."

"Hey!" Emberfall cried indignantly.

"We should decide these things together!" Mossfoot protested.

Antfur leaned in close to her. "Yeah, I decided it with you guys- together. Got a problem?" He didn't wait for her to answer. He went back to his spot where he'd chosen to sleep and plopped back down again.

Both Mossfoot and Emberfall looked furious, and they glared at the arrogant tom. "Antfur..." Mossfoot growled.

"Yes!" Meanwhile, Redpaw was proudly keeping watch. Mossfoot watched him worriedly for a moment, wondering if it really was a good idea. She decided to trust the young tom, though she still felt dubious. Besides, she was beginning to feel sleepy.

Lilypaw's words came back to her. Was that actually possible? To feel sleepy in a dream? She was too tired to dwell of the thought, and she slipped into a deep slumber.

Mossfoot didn't dream about anything. In fact, she felt as though as soon as she'd closed her eyelids, it was time to open them again. But this time she didn't have trouble keeping her eyes open.

"Something's coming!" She heard Redpaw screech. "I can smell it!"

Mossfoot leaped to her paws. She was surprised to see Sorrelfern looking extremely alarmed. "What? Where?" The she-cat looked around wildly. She felt a small bit of satisfaction to see her nemesis like that. The cool and even emotionless she-cat now panicked. Amusing...

Lilypaw blinked the sleep away from her eyes. "Huh? What's going-"

Emberfall let out a caterwaul and Mossfoot whipped her head around. Before she knew it, blood was dripping down Emberfall's shoulder, and she could see the deep red gash running from her shoulder to her ribs.

Mossfoot felt something bump her. For a moment she thought it was some sort of monster or enemy...and she almost clawed Sparrowfire's fur off. This time he didn't give her a smart remark. "It's okay, Mossfoot, it's just me. Let's try to help Emberfall." If circumstances had been different, she would have been so grateful that her brother was finally taking things seriously. But something was probably about to kill them, so she barely noticed.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"I-I don't know!" Emberfall gasped. Sparrowfire ran forward and sniffed her wound.

"We need to find cobwebs or something to stop the bleeding!" Her brother announced quickly. Mossfoot looked down and saw only dry grass. It made pretty good bedding, so maybe it could work like cobwebs...

"Here! Try this!" Mossfoot rushed forward and pulled from the ground a mouthful of dead grass. She pressed it the wound gently. It hardly did anything. Emberfall swayed as she pressed, and Redpaw ran up to give her support.

Lilypaw got more grass, and they made a make-shift bandage. "Here, lie down." The four of them helped her to relax. "Don't just stand there, Antfur! Help us out!" Mossfoot exclaimed.

"Hey...where's Sorrelfern?" Redpaw asked aloud. Everyone looked up. The she-cat was nowhere in sight. The fog seemed to be worse than before. It would be dangerous for anyone to wander off, especially by themselves.

"Oh no..." Sparrowfire muttered. He'd noticed that Sorrelfern was missing too.

Antfur continued to watched, his eyes narrowed. "Why should I help Emberfall?" He spat. "She's a lousy..." Mossfoot tuned the tom's voice out, rolling her eyes.

"If he's going to be like that, then we might as well leave him on his own here." She muttered.

"I'm back." Came what could have been a bored-sounding voice.

"Sorrelfern! Where'd you go?" Lilypaw asked, eyes round with fear. She had obviously been worried about the strange she-cat.

"I got some cobwebs." Sorrelfern shrugged.

"You could gotten hurt- or worse!" Mossfoot hissed.

"But I didn't. All I did was try to help Emberfall." Sorrelfern's voice was monotone, and her eyes showed no emotion.

Mossfoot was about to say something back, but thought twice about it. "Fine. Just give me the cobwebs." When Sorrelfern didn't move she repeated her words, louder this time.

"Excuse me, but you weren't the one who trained as a medicine cat for half of their apprenticeship." The dull she-cat finally showed an emotion: annoyance.

Mossfoot reluctantly let Sorrelfern past her. They both approached Emberfall, who was still bleeding. "Here..." She removed the grass and started to clean the wound. Then she pressed the cobwebs down, effectively slowing the bleeding. It stopped moments later. "The key thing is cleaning the wound first. Did any of you think of that?"

"We weren't the ones who were trained to be medicine cats." Mossfoot tilted her head innocently. "We did our best."

"Please stop..." Emberfall murmured. They all did. Even Antfur, who had decided not to help her, perked up. "They're surrounding us, and you need to fight." She began to close her eyes drearily.

"What are?" Lilypaw asked. The reply was a dark shadow that knocked her over. There was a crunch, and she yowled in pain. Her paw seemed to be twisted into an awkward position. Mossfoot winced.

"Lilypaw!" Redpaw screeched and leapt forward. Antfur fluffed up his fur, and brought his claws down on the shadow. He just barely missed it. Another shadow was creeping up on him, preparing to strike.

Mossfoot leapt toward it without thinking and tried to knock it away. Or whatever one would do to fight a shadow. She was surprised to see that it wasn't a shadow at all- it was a deformed cat. She was sure it had only been a dark shape moments before.

"Stay away!" She turned to see Lilypaw and Redpaw trying to defend themselves from two other deformed cats. A third one was running toward them too.

As she was looking, something smashed into her head, knocking her down. She saw stars for a moment, and Mossfoot couldn't get up. It soon wore off and she jumped up unsteadily.

This time Antfur was wrestling with two of the cats. Mossfoot grabbed one of them by the scruff and dragged it back. She bit into its throat and tasted crow-food instead of blood. She grimaced but did not let go.

Her teeth sank in deeper, and she felt the cat go limp. It disappeared in the blink of an eye, and she jumped. "What?" She hissed. She saw more and more of the deformed cats, and her heart sunk into her stomach. They were badly outnumbered.

Lilypaw yelped and Redpaw cowered in terror. Mossfoot stared in utter horror as all of the deformed cats clustered together and began to melt into each other. She gagged as she watched. She would wonder later on if being outnumbered by cats was better than what was to come.

"Stop staring!" Sparrowfire called. "Attack it!" Antfur and Mossfoot charged at 'It' and tried to do something- anything to stop it.

Mossfoot skidded to a halt when she saw it transform. Now, instead of several deformed cats, there was a giant deformed badger. She let out a yowl of terror, too shocked to do anything. How that could have happened: she wasn't sure. But Mossfoot was pretty sure that the only option they had was to run.

The giant badger huffed and lumbered toward the spot where Emberfall lay. "Fox-dung!" She knew Sorrelfern was trying to guard Emberfall, but just one cat wouldn't be enough. "Redpaw! Sparrowfire!" She called. They didn't any further instruction to know what to do. The two toms grabbed onto the badger, distracting it momentarily. Their claws sank into its deformed flesh, making it howl in pain. Even terrible creatures like that could feel.

"Lilypaw?" Antfur asked, worried. He ran over to her. The apprentice was gasping for breath, and looked very panicked. Mossfoot was glad that he was going to help the injured apprentice, but that took away from their already meager fighting force.

She noticed that the badger had turned around, trying to rid itself of Redpaw and Sparrowfire. Mossfoot took advantage of the moment and charged and leapt, landing on its head. She let out an ear-splitting screech, trying to scare the deformed beast. She opened her jaws and sank her sharp teeth into it. Again she tasted crow-food. She had to try not to jerk away from the disgusting badger.

The badger reared and knocked her off. She landed on top of Sparrowfire, knocking the breath out of both of them. She rolled off quickly, gulping in air. Mossfoot's eyes widened when she saw Redpaw still clinging to the badger. "Let go of it!" She growled. "Just let go!" She raced forward when he did, and dragged him away from the huge badger paws.

Sorrelfern shrieked when she was picked up by a leg and thrown to the side like a piece of prey. The badger had reached Emberfall, and it brought a paw down on her belly. Shivers went down Mossfoot's spine when she heard several cracks that sounded like ribs being broken. "Get away from her!" She screeched, running forward. Redpaw followed her, trying to help too.

Sparrowfire raced past them and slammed into the badger. It was off balance for a moment before knocking him away with ease. Redpaw tried to grab onto its skin but was too slow and it slammed into the young tom too. Mossfoot swiped her claws at it, digging them into warm flesh. A black liquid slid out instead of blood, and she wrinkled her nose.

As she tried to dodge, the badger slammed a paw into her side. She groaned and began to see stars. She blinked them away, but was too late to do anything. The badger grabbed Emberfall in its jaws, snapping her spine quickly. Her yowl of pain was cut short, and her eyes glazed over.

Mossfoot watched as the deformed badger lumbered away with Emberfall's dead body in its jaws. She continued to stare even as it disappeared into the fog, though that was beginning to clear. Shock was all she felt.

"Emberfall!" Antfur yowled. "Emberfall!" Mossfoot turned her head to see the tom cowering next to Lilypaw, no longer trying to help. She and Lilypaw watched with pity, though she was still unsure about what had been happening between the two.

As it turned out, surviving wasn't going to be as easy as they had all thought.


End file.
